The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: August 9, 2024
Not much this week, just some quick hits
Hello there
Welcome once again to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This week is going to probably the shortest Death Star HR we’ve seen. When you read this I’ll be on vacation and enjoying some much needed time away. Now, some of you may be breathing a sign of relief that there’s less Death Star HR, but don’t worry I’ll be back with a fully armed and operational newsletter.
As always, I appreciate everyone for reading and sticking with me. Now, let’s get to it.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
There is some good faith criticism that be leveled at The Acolyte. There’s also been a lot of bad faith criticism towards it. But you know even the haters were checking it out.
The image is from fellow Substacker Richie Holland. We exchanged a few messages after he posted a link about right-wingers being mad at Taylor Swift and I had to check to see if there was something new they were mad about (childless cat lady and all) or they were still mad at her. Check him out, he even recently wrote something about the Young Jedi Adventures.
Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising
I haven’t done one of these in a while. Everyone once in a while I’ll find something Star Wars related that I don’t need but it’s too cheap not to buy it. A while back I saw somewhere, probably on Etsy which has turned from handmade goods to drop shipping, 100 Star Wars stickers for $5.00 or something like that. None of them were especially great and the quality wasn’t the best. But, it was $5.00 so what do you expect. But some of the design choices were a little…uhh…well you can judge for yourself.
Yeah. These were before AI image generation was really taking off. So I really wonder what was going through the artist’s mind on some of these.
This Day in Star Wars History
Since I’ve started doing the “This Day in Star Wars History” section I’ve noticed two things. First, should I change the title to “On This Day In Star Wars History?” I can’t decide which sounds better. Second, I’ve noticed the vast majority of entries are for comics. Which makes sense. There’s going to be way more days where a comic is released versus, say, days that Mark Hamill was born. Here’s what we have for August 9th.
Kevin McKidd was born in 1973. Best known to most people as either Dr. Owen Hunt on Grey’s Anatomy or the voice of “Soap” MacTavish in the Call of Duty Modern: Modern Warfare games, depending on what you’re into. He also voiced Mandalorian Fenn Rau in six episodes of Rebels.
In 1979, Michael Kingma was born. He had a small part as Wookiee General Tarfful in Revenge of the Sith. I was going to make a comment he’s probably the only person in the world to both play a Wookiee and play in Australia’s National Basketball League, but that’s not the case. Along with Kingma, three other NBL players were cast as Wookiees in Revenge of the Sith.
Katie Johnson passed away on this date in 2005 at 8 years old from brain cancer. Katie was the daughter of Albin Johnson, who was one of the founders of the 501st Legion. If you’ve ever seen a Star Wars convention or event and there’s tons of people dressed as Stormtroopers, good chance they’re part of the local 501st chapter.
Throwing in one comic here. In 2017, Rogue One - Cassian & K-2SO Special 1 was published. All I can say is we better get the original story of Cassian and K-2SO in the second season of Andor.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
Normally I just hit the random article button on Wookieepedia until something I like comes up. It’s more of an art than a science. There’s no real set criteria for what qualifies as a FTDOW article. You just know it when you see it. But today we’re going to go with something I saw while clicking around for This Day In Star Wars History, and that’s R2-KT.
R2-KT was obvious an astromech droid that the R2-D2 Builders Club made for Katie Johnson after she was diagnosed with brain cancer and said she wanted a droid to watch over her like R2 did with Padme in Attack of the Clones. Since Katie’s passing, R2-KT gets used for raising awareness of childhood illness and as a fundraiser.
In the galaxy far far away, R2-KT popped up in The Clone Wars movie along with a few episodes of The Clone Wars series. And made a live action appearance in The Force Awakens.
Not bad for a little droid. I know the normal vibe at Death Star HR is something I call earnestly snarky. I just came up with that. I want to like all Star Wars, I really do. I don’t want any of it to be bad. But at the same time as a Gen X’er who counts The Simpsons as my number 1 pop culture influence, even more so than Star Wars, I’m incapable of looking at anything without detached irony. Sometimes it’s tough to know where the irony ends. But maybe here, it’s a good idea to embrace the earnest side and appreciate a group of fans building a droid to make a sick girl feel just a little better.
News From the HoloNet
Princess Leia Becomes Darth Vader's New Apprentice in Official Art for Marvel's Finale Issue
Check out the art. I love the idea.
Disney Turns A Quarterly Profit In Streaming For the First Time
I have a working theory that things are so screwed up in society because companies don’t think past the next quarterly report and politicians don’t think past the next election. Also, put the profits toward season 2 of The Acolyte! I need more Darth Smiley!
'Star Wars' actor Daisy Ridley reveals Graves' disease diagnosis
That’s rough. Hopefully treatment works for her.
Justin Simien Says Letting Go of Star Wars: Lando Series Demanded 'A True Grieving Process'
Wonder if we’ll ever get the full story. It sort of sounds like Disney did Simien dirty.
That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.
This really is witty, striking a perfect balance between humour and nostalgia. The blend of casual commentary and Star Wars trivia creates an engaging read, especially the "This Day in Star Wars History" section, which adds a unique touch for me. Brilliant.
R2-KT is so legitimately sweet. It always gets me.